High mounted stop lamps ("HMSL") have been a requirement in this country for several years. Automobile manufacturers have provided various types of lamp assemblies to meet this requirement.
A conventional high mounted stop lamp consists of a housing with a reflective coating on the inside and a lens mounted thereto with a bulb inside. While this type of lamp assembly may come in various shapes and sizes, many of these assemblies require several components to be connected together, including in addition to the lens and housing, a separate bracket to facilitate the attachment of the bulb socket. A disadvantage of these structures is the high tooling and lamp costs, as well as the difficulty of assembly and the length of manufacturing time. Other indirect consequences of these designs include high left-over scrap and added vehicle weight.